A Camping Trip
by darkfox360
Summary: Alice is forced to go on that camping trip, but two of her many admirers decide to tag along. What will happen this time, and what will the incidents lead to? Alice X Ace, Blood, Peter, Boris, Julius and Elliot. Read and review!
1. 1

Julius sat at his table, working on his clocks, as usual, when Ace walked into the room.

"Hello, Julius" he greeted him.

"Ace. You're here for Alice, I assume?" asked Julius, not bothering to look up from his work.

"Oh, I was! How did you know?"

"Well, since I didn't call you to collect a clock, it's the only other reason you'd come here", he said with a small smile. "She's in her room."

"Thanks"

Ace walked into Alice's room quietly and stood behind her, so she wouldn't notice his presence, so he could surprise her. Or so he hoped.

"Alice!" he said loudly, enjoying watching her jump up with surprise.

"Aaaaah! Ace?! When did you get here?" she asked, looking up at him. "Don't you have the basic manners to _knock_? What are you doing here, anyway? "

"I came to see you, Alice" he explained.

"I get enough visiting from Peter. He's so convinced he's in love with me…" she said, shaking her head.

"Oh, and I have something to tell you. Actually, something to remind you of, really" he said quietly.

"What?" asked Alice curiously, wondering why he was so serious all of a sudden.

"Remember? You promised to go camping with me again!" he said happily.

Alice sighed. "No, as far as I remember, I didn't say _anything_. So I'm not going camping with you, Ace."

"But still! Even if you didn't promise….you know the consequences!" he said with an evil look in his eyes.

"I don't want to die" Alice reminded herself out loud.

"That's right, you don't. That's why you're going camping with me today. Even if you didn't agree, you know I never give up!" he said.

Just then, the door burst open and Boris walked in.

"Seriously, don't any of you _knock_?" said Alice, frustrated.

"What? You're actually going with him? You said you wouldn't!" said Boris pleadingly.

"I have to. I don't want to face the consequences if I don't…" said Alice miserably.

"Then at least let me come with you! I'll protect you from him" he said, with a suspicious look in Ace's direction.

"Eh…" she said, wondering what Boris was thinking of.

"I'm sorry, Kitty-cat. It'll be only the two of us" said Ace, before Alice could reply.

"Please, Alice?" asked Boris, disregarding what Ace had just told him.

"Ace, just let him come" Alice said. She couldn't stand to see Boris so worried.

"Fine. But my tent is small" he said stubbornly.

"Then you can sleep outside" retorted Boris.

"No thanks. I think YOU can sleep outside."

"How about this?" suggested Alice. "I'll get another tent and we'll work it out there. When are we leaving, Ace?"

"Eager, are you?" said Ace wickedly.

"No. I want to get this over with quickly" said Alice.

And then, for the second time within minutes, the door burst open, and Peter White came in.

"Don't ANY of you have the decency to _knock_?" asked Alice, yet again

"Tent? Going? Where are you going, Alice?" asked Peter curiously.

"Oh god. Do I have to tell you too?"

"I'll come with you!" insisted Peter.

"You don't even know where we're going!" laughed Alice.

"We? What do you mean 'we'?" demanded Peter.

And so, Alice told him the details of their camping trip.

"What? And you agreed? That's dangerous! At least let me come along to protect you from these two monsters!" said Peter resolutely.

"Absolutely not! We have Boris tagging along as it is. We don't need another animal in the mix!" said Ace.

Animal? This gave Peter an idea. A flash of bright light later, he was in his rabbit form.

"Alice? Please?" he asked, widening his eyes to look extra-cute.

Alice picked him up and hugged him. "Of course you can. Right?" she asked, looking at Ace.

"If that's what you want…"

Peter smirked at Ace behind Alice's back, still in his rabbit form. He could get anything he wanted in this form.

A little while later, they had all left, happy about getting what they all wanted. Alice sat on her bed and frowned. She didn't know why she let everyone get their way so easily today. Then, there was a small knock on the door. "Can I come in?" she heard Julius say quietly.

"Wow…the only person with manners" she said to herself. Then she added out loud "Yes, you can."

He came in and stood in front of her, with a solemn expression on his face.

"Are you going on that trip with them?" he asked softly.

"Yes, unfortunately, I'm forced to. Why? Let me guess. You want to come too?" she asked.

"No, I don't", he chuckled, "but I just wanted to tell you to be careful. Those two - Peter and Ace – are very-very aggressive."

"Aggressive?" she asked, again wondering what he was thinking of.

"You know what I mean. They won't stop at anything to get what they want" he said embarrassedly.

"You", he clarified, when she continued to look at him with a blank expression.

She blushed and looked away. "I know. They're frustrating. But my life is at risk here. And not all of us can simply get our hearts (or clocks) fixed" she said wryly.

"Be careful, then", he said, patting her on the head and walking out of the room, avoiding her curious gaze.

"Well, that was odd" she said to herself.

**How was it, my first attempt at a Heart no Kuni no Alice fan fiction? Read and review!**


	2. 2

**Thanks, those of you who reviewed the day I updated! I love you guys! **

**Oh, and to Unique Yet Simple: Maybe he does that in the game, but in the manga, he's slightly calmer and not so…I don't know; I don't have a word for it. **

**Thanks a lot! Enjoy!**

2

Alice walked slowly, looking down at the path. She was trying to ignore the person walking next to her with a smug smile on his face and his arms around Alice's shoulders, and the two people behind her watching Ace jealously, angrily, ready to attack if he dared to get any closer.

Then, suddenly, Peter couldn't take it any longer. He switched to his rabbit form.

"Alice? I'm tired" he said, putting on the cutest voice he could.

"Okay, I'll carry you" said Alice who was currently under the spell of the rabbit's extreme cuteness.

"Take that, Boris" he whispered, and hopped into Alice's arms happily.

"Alice, I'm tired too" said Boris, now in an adorable cat form which Alice hadn't seen till then. Sighing, she stretched out her arm to Boris, who gratefully jumped on it and smiled complacently at Peter.

Watching all this, Ace bent down and whispered in her ear "Drop them, and we'll run. Leave them here" he urged.

"I can't leave two poor, helpless animals in the forest alone!" she exclaimed.

"Heh, poor, helpless…You know they're really not animals."

"But they look like animals."

"But they still have the same intentions as they do in human form" he sighed.

"Intentions?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and they reached their camping spot in the evening.

"I'll start a fire" announced Alice, and scampered off. Peter stared after her, his eyes glazed. Surely he was dreaming up some absurd scenario in his head. The other two shook their heads disapprovingly.

"Alice is sleeping in my tent" declared Peter.

"Your tent? I _brought_ her here."

"You'll attack her. She'll sleep in my tent" said Peter

"What do you mean I'll sleep in your tent?" asked Alice, wiping her hands on her skirt. "We have four tents!"

"True, true" they all agreed sheepishly.

"Alice, remember? I brought you here because you promised me something" reminded Ace.

"Forget it. No way" said Alice stubbornly.

And so, not wanting to anger Alice, they set up their tents separately. Noticing her standing by the fire alone, Peter went to talk to her.

"All right, then, I'm going to sleep" said Alice, wanting to avoid him at all costs.

"Already?"

"Yeah. I'm tired from walking. Plus I helped Julius today…"

"Julius. Why do you stay with him? Why can't you stay with me at the palace?" asked Peter sadly. "After all, I brought you here."

But Alice had already started walking away.

"What, are you sleeping already?" asked Ace. "I didn't even get a chance to listen to your heart."

Peter growled.

"Oh well…We still have two entire days…" said Ace matter-of-factly.

"What?" asked Alice, stopping in her tracks.

"Yeah, did I not tell you? We're staying here for three nights, two days" he explained.

"Why?"

"Because we're lost!" he said happily.

"How can we be lost?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we are and Vivaldi mentioned that she'd be sending her army into the forest in two days, so until then, we've no idea where we are."

Grumbling to herself, Alice starting walking to her tent again. Suddenly, she realized something.

"Hey, have any of you seen Boris?"

"No."

"No."

"The last time I saw him was…when I was starting the fire" she mused.

"We seem to have gotten rid of the Kitty-cat. Goodbye, good riddance, I say" said Ace.

"I hope nothing bad happened to him" Alice said, entering her tent.

She closed it completely and turned around.

"AAAH! What are you doing here?" she screamed at Boris, who was sitting and staring at her expressionlessly.

"I got bored."

"You have to leave. NOW"

"Aww…" he said, and got up slowly. "Alice?" he asked, apparently as an afterthought.

"Yes?"

"You're not letting Ace come in here, are you?"

"No I'm not. Of course not."

"He's going to, anyway" he muttered and went out.

Outside, Alice could hear Peter shouting at Boris for going into her tent. Laughing to herself, she changed into her nightgown and was just about to go to sleep when Peter showed up.

"Alice!" he exclaimed, hugging her. Alice pushed him off.

"What?" she asked, irritated.

"Nothing. Goodnight!" he said, suddenly bending down and kissing her cheek. "Goodnight!" he called again, and left.

Alice stood, stunned and bothered. A little while later, she was fast asleep and everyone else was in their respective tents.

Peter's imagined scene:

"_Peter!" Alice shouted._

"_Alice!" he shouted back._

_They ran towards each other in a field of sunflowers. _

"_Peter, I love you" she declared, her eyes swimming with tears._

"_So do I, Alice, so do I" he said, looking into her eyes._

"_I love only you, and no one else, especially not that stupid Ace, or that pesky cat, Boris. You're the only one for me!" cried Alice._

Peter woke up, frustrated that his dream would obviously never come true, and went outside for fresh air.

Boris's imagined scene:

_Alice was sitting in her room, leaning against the wall, with Boris's head on her lap. _

"_Hey Alice, which animal can fly higher than a skyscraper?" Boris asked._

"_I don't know."_

"_All flying animals, because skyscrapers don't fly!" he answered, smiling._

_Alice laughed "You're so funny, Boris. You're so much better than that scheming Ace or that perverted Peter. I like you a lot, Boris" she said quietly, playing with his hair. "I love you"_

"_I love you too, Alice!"_

Boris woke up, frustrated that his dream would obviously never come true, and went outside for fresh air.

Ace's imagined scene

……….

(Author's Note: Who really knows what Ace is thinking?)

Peter entered Alice's tent quietly, taking care not to wake her, determined to remain in her room no matter what she said.

Boris entered Alice's tent, quietly, tip-toeing through the room, determined to remain in her room no matter what she said.

Ace just walked in normally.

"Waaah! What are you doing here?" Boris and Peter shouted at each other. Alice woke up, but pretended to still be awake.

"Ace, you too. Why are you here?" asked Peter, reaching into his coat to pull out his gun.

"I brought her here after all" he said, drawing his sword.

"Shhh…Alice is sleeping" Boris reminded them.

"Oh, right" Peter said, and sat down next to her. The others did the same

_How did it turn out like this? All of them sitting here and watching me pretending to sleep,_ thought Alice.

"I don't even know why you people are here" Ace grumbled.

"I'm here to stop you from getting to her" replied Boris.

"I'm here because I love Alice" announced Peter grandly. "After all, I was the one who brought her here in the first place."

"Did you now, rabbit?" said Ace. "Well, Alice and I are the closest since we've already spent a night together, in this very tent."

"Alice and I have too!" said Peter, quite louder than was necessary

_They're making me sound like a person who sleeps around. Please shut up, all of you._

"But I love her more than you two do" said Peter. "I'm the first one to kiss her!"

_No, actually, it wasn't him. It was my ex…_

"So have I" declared Ace. The other stared at him with shock.

"You have?" asked Boris.

_NO, he hasn't! Liar!_

"Yes, I have. And she didn't protest like she probably did for you, rabbit" he said, smirking.

"She did NOT protest! She likes me! She just doesn't know it yet!" he insisted.

"Of course she doesn't like you" said Boris suddenly.

_Thank you Boris, for being the only one to know what he's talking about._

"Alice and I are best friends" he said.

_That's true, in a way._

"So therefore, she loves me more than you two" he continued.

_WHAT? Not you too, Boris!_

"I never try to take advantage of her like you two do."

"But this is the only way to get her to fall in love with me" Peter explained sadly. "She really is in love with me; she's so ignorant though…"

"In love with YOU? She only thinks of you as a perverted rabbit" justified Ace.

"Oh, YOU'RE one to speak, threatening her and bringing her here. It's lucky I'm here to stop you from doing….I don't know what…to her" Boris said.

"But at least Alice is conscious of me. To her, you're just an unimportant cat. She has no feelings towards you."

_Okay, time to stop these idiots._

"Um, excuse me" came a small voice from somewhere in the tent. "Could you please GET OUT OF HERE?"

They ran out without any further ado.


	3. 3

3

The next morning, Alice woke up, grumpy and especially annoyed when she remembered that she had to spend two more nights there. And then she opened her eyes and saw someone's eyes staring at hers intensely. She felt this person put his arm around her.

"Ace!" she screamed, realizing it was him.

"Yes?" he asked calmly.

"Get off! Now!" she demanded.

"No, I don't feel like it" he replied simply. She forcefully pushed him off and turned around to see Peter pointing a gun at Ace.

"Knight, prepare to die" he said dramatically and was about to shoot when Ace pulled Alice in front of him. Just as before, Peter was forced to let go of the trigger.

"Get away from her" came another voice.

"Boris?" she asked warily.

"Good morning, Alice!" he said cheerfully. "Slept well?" he asked.

"No, not with you three bothering me in the middle of the night! Why were you here anyway?" she asked, enraged.

The others suddenly became extremely interested in the floor.

The rest of the day was quite uneventful. They spent most of the day playing cards and Peter and Boris spent the remainder of the time arguing over Alice.

Alice, for some reason, became extremely drowsy and suddenly collapsed while playing. The others moved her into the tent and continued arguing. A few hours later, Peter and Boris were also very tired and fell into a deep sleep.

Alice awoke a few hours later and saw that she was not in her tent, and that she was sleeping on someone's lap. It was, of course, Ace.

"Had a good nap?" he asked, smiling at her.

"How did I get here?" she groaned. "I was asleep and then…Oh no, it was you, wasn't it?"

"Yep."

"Sleeping pills?" she asked.

"Just one."

"I expect Peter and Boris are asleep as well?"

"Of course. Two pills each. How can we be alone if those two creatures were here?"

"Are they alright?" she asked.

"They're fine. But again, you seem to be extremely calm in such a situation" he said amusedly.

"What is it this time?"

"You're alone in the woods, far, far away from civilization, in a small tent with a guy who likes you and plans to do things to you" he said amusedly.

"Oh?" she said disinterestedly. "I notice it changed from 'guy who's interested in you' to 'guy who likes you'. Why is that?"

"Because it's true" he replied, automatically leaning over and smiling at her.

"So now you like me too…" she said disgustedly. "I think I have enough people who like me" she said amusedly.

"Yeah, I noticed. Peter keeps doing these things to you, right?" he asked. As she was wondering what he could be talking about, he suddenly hugged her, in a very Peter-esque, bear-hug way.

"Yeah" she said dejectedly. 'But why do you have to demonstrate?" she asked.

"Because I love you, see?" he said. "And you like me too" he said matter-of-factly.

She pulled away and frowned. "No, I don't. I'm not in love with you, or anyone right now."

"But you are in love with me! You agreed to go camping with me, you don't protest when I hug you, you like me better than Peter, at least, right?"

"That may be true, but I like most people better than Peter, and I only agreed to go camping because I value my life" she reasoned.

"Nope. Not going to work. I'm still convinced you love me."

Alice mumbled something against it, but he wasn't listening. "Okay. Can you let me go now?"

"No."

"Why? Oh, listening to my heart again?" she said, with mild interest.

"Of course. It's so unique..."

"You know, in the world I came from, everyone has a heart, so it's not very unique. I'm not very different."

"You _are_ different. You've changed everyone (excluding me), and taught most of us how to respect life" he said.

"Most of us?"

"With the exception of me, of course" he said amusedly. "I'm a knight, so I'm meant to kill."

"I guess that's true, but don't you feel any remorse?" she asked, releasing herself from his rather tight grip and moving away.

"No, I don't. It's just you and your posse who think this way. It's very normal here. We have replacements" he explained.

"But I'd miss you if you died." she said quietly. "Anyone, for that matter" she added hastily.

"Ha! More proof that you love me!" he declared. "Of course, I wouldn't want you to die either. But it seems so fun, killing someone everyone loves."

"Does it?" she said nonchalantly. "In our world we make it a point not to go around killing people."

The rest of the night was uneventful, if you don't count Ace insisting that Alice sleep next to him, or Alice moving away while he moved closer and closer till they were pressed against one corner of the tent, with no way to move…

(Author's note: Dear reader, please let your imagination roam free and concoct your own little fantasies about what happened after this. I wouldn't want to…err… restrict your imagination, ha ha)

The next morning, Alice got up as early as she could and got ready to leave. Curiously, they didn't get lost this time, and she was now convinced Ace got lost on purpose.

Alice was walking a little too close to the bushes when – she saw a snake and screamed. She held onto Ace's shoulder and buried her face there.

"What is it?" he asked.

"S-snake."

"Let me get this straight" he said. "You're not scared of the mortician or me" he said, and Alice nodded, "but you're scared of a tiny snake" he finished, and Alice nodded again. "That's strange" he declared.

Alice, still scared, refused to let go. Ace, delighted, only moved closer. This gave a very…awkward appearance, because it looked as if they were a proper couple.

Perhaps it was a bad coincidence, or extremely bad timing, but most probably it was on purpose that just as they were nearing their original camping spot where Boris sat, Ace bent down and kissed Alice.

A feeling of warmth filled her, and just as quickly as it started, it ended. Ace had moved away.

"See now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked.

Before she could vehemently disagree, Boris was in front of them, with a gun pointed straight at Ace's chest.

"You-you bastard!" he shouted and was about to shoot when Ace pushed Alice away and drew his sword.

"Tricking me, taking advantage of Alice…" he said while dodging Ace's sword.

"It's not my fault you two decided to tag along" Ace retorted, narrowly missing him this time.

"Prepare to DIE!" said Boris dramatically. He was about to shoot when a very loud, unexpected "STOP" came from somewhere. They spun around to see Alice, looking very angry indeed.

"You two stop right now. We all know Ace is a good-for-nothing PIG" she ranted, and Boris nodded, "and that Boris really needs to control his emotions", punctuated with a nod from Ace, "but could you two not try to kill each other at every possible moment?" she finished.

So finally, they agreed to call it even (for the moment. Of course, they'd start fighting as soon as Alice was out of earshot) and continued to glare at each other. Peter awoke and walked out of his tent, yawning, and suddenly, his expression as he saw Alice and came skipping to her and hugged.

"Alice! What a good person to see first thing in the morning!" he exclaimed.

"Ugh" she said in response.

Then, he seemed to remember Ace's scheming ways, and turned to face Ace, still holding on to Alice.

Ace was smiling innocently at them.

"That's it" declared Peter dramatically. "As soon as we get back, I'm ordering for you to be executed. And you too, kitty"

"Me? What did I do?" asked Boris.

"For getting too close to MY Alice" he shouted, and pulled out his gun and began to shoot randomly.

Ten minutes and two more truces later, they all sat quietly at the campfire.

"Alice. This is all your fault" said Boris suddenly.

"Huh? How is this my fault in any way? I was FORCED to go with him. I was knocked out, just like you two, last night" she said, glaring at Ace, who was smiling innocently at her again.

"Don't put on that expression! You know you're in no way innocent!" said Alice.

The others gasped.

"A-Alice, what do you mean 'He's not innocent'?" asked Boris, shaking with rage.

"Did he…do anything to you?" asked Peter, glaring at Ace.

"Ask her" said Ace simply. "It's up to her whether she considered what happened as 'something'…" he said, speaking slowly on purpose.

"Alice, what happened?" asked Boris quietly. "What did he do?"

Alice stared at the floor, turning a bright reddish color, and stared at the floor.

"I think she doesn't want to tell you" said Ace pseudo-wisely. "She must be treasuring her memory - it's probably too dear to her to tell you animals" he said bluntly.

They – Alice included – lunged forward and were about to attack him for his blunt, embarrassing and untrue (though the latter was known to Alice only) words, when he stopped them by changing the topic abruptly. "The weather's quite nice today, isn't it?"

Later that day, they were sitting and talking civilly for a change.

"Alice has so many admirers" said Boris. "It's quite odd."

"It's because she's so amazing" concluded Peter, and continued to gaze at Alice with dreamy eyes.

"Or it's probably because she's a foreigner. When I first met her, I didn't know she was a foreigner until Elliot March mentioned it…" said Ace.

"Elliot March? He also likes Alice?" asked Peter witheringly.

"Of course, as I said, everyone loves Alice" said Boris. "Alice likes Elliot, though" he informed them.

"She does? You do?" asked Peter sadly. "You can't! He's mafia! He's not good for you!" he said without doubt.

"I told you, I don't love anyone" Alice confirmed.

"No, that's not true…" said Ace slowly. "You love me, remember? You told me so last night when we were –"

"AHEM! I did NOT say anything like that! As far as I remember – "

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

A bullet shot right past their heads. "Too close, knight" shouted Peter.

"PETER! Remember? No killing anyone when I'm here, please" Alice requested.

"Fine, fine, just move away from that perverse – "

"YOU'RE one to talk about perverse, you freaky rabbit!" shouted Boris.

"ANYWAY. As I was saying, I do NOT love anybody, no matter how many people are apparently in love with me" Alice cut them off.

"Even Gowland likes you" said Boris. "And he doesn't even know you!'

"That's nothing. Vivaldi loves Alice as well." Peter informed them.

"That's just…repulsive" stated Ace. "But Alice is the only one who was able to change Julius's cold nature. He also is in love with Alice, though it will go unreciprocated, because Alice loves me."

"Must you try to pressurize me into believing it EVERY sentence?" asked Alice cynically.

"Julius loves her too? Then it's no longer safe to live with him anymore" said Peter. "Oh, Alice, won't you move to the castle? Please?"

"No."

"Alice, you could move in with me! We could be roommates! I don't" said Boris a bit too innocently. The others sighed and ignored his comment.

"Boris, no thanks" she said, as nicely as she could manage.

"Why? Is this because you like Julius more than me?" he asked jealously.

"As I've mentioned SEVERAL times, I do NOT like anyone better than ANYONE, got that?" she asked testily.

"Yes, Alice" said Ace in mock-guilt and pseudo-obedience, smirking when he saw her glare at him. She attempted to throw a rock at him, which he efficiently and effortlessly dodged. Irritated, she picked up a handful and continued showering him with pebbles – which he darted miraculously – while Peter and Boris egged her on and cheered her on.

A few minutes later, Alice's unexplained childish behavior had subsided and she regained her composure. Peter, for some reason (*cough* *cough*) wanted to resume their earlier discussion and started off with the topic yet again.

"As I was saying, Alice should move to the castle, because Julius has also fallen for you."

"Oh yeah, Alice, you should totally move to the castle!" supplied Ace unexpectedly.

"What?" all of them asked blankly.

"Oh dear, I forgot that this directionally challenged _swine_ also lives at the palace" said Peter, shaking his head. "Too bad. I'll just have to move out and rent my own place, and _then_ you can live with me" offered Peter.

"Err, no thanks, I'll pass" said Alice, avoiding looking at him, so he wouldn't see her horrified expression.

_I see Ace hasn't offered. Wow, the only person who knows I'd never move in with any of these people._

"Of course, Alice, my room has plenty of space" he said, as if he had read her mind.

_I spoke too soon._

"Obviously you'd never move into Blood Dupre's mansion, would you?" said Boris confidently. He was glad to think he was at least preferred over the Mafioso. Seeing her not responding, he asked her one more time. "Right?" You wouldn't, right?", with a previously unheard note of doubt in his voice.

"Blood loves Alice. Otherwise, she'd be dead by now" Ace told them, as if it was no big deal.

"Him too?" asked Peter, his jaw dropping.

"Once, when Alice and I got lost on the way to the castle we – err – accidentally ended up at the Hatter mansion. Blood was busy seducing Alice, and she was falling for it!" Ace said, wanting to shock and annoy Peter, and provoke Boris into doing something stupid.

"Blood Dupre?" asked Peter disapprovingly, his dissatisfaction increasing exponentially when Alice, for once didn't deny that she was in love with anyone in particular. Boris sighed. "I supposed you're in love with him, aren't you?" he asked disdainfully. "That man…Wait till I tell the twins. They'll be heartbroken that their onee-chan is interested in their boss."

"Why, Alice, why?" asked Peter.

"He looks like her ex" supplied Ace.

"Y-your ex?"

"He does look exactly like him, though their personalities are unerringly contrasting" said Alice.

"So that's why."

"Yep."

A few moments later, Alice spoke up. "He wanted me to move to the mansion before any of you offered - " she said.

" - So you're moving there inste - " finished Boris. Peter seemed too sad to even speak, or declare his undying love for "his" Alice.

"- No, what I was _trying_ to say was that I want to stay in the clock tower. Funny, I don't ever remember mentioning to any of you that I'd be moving _anywhere_."

"Hooray! Alice isn't having an affair with the hatter!" said Peter joyously.

"She wants to stay in the clock tower for Julius's sake" said Ace. "Also, if she moves, she won't be able to see me regularly anymore."

"Huh? Why would she see you regularly at the watchmaker's?" asked Boris suspiciously.

"Oops" Ace said, almost inaudibly. Alice smiled at his accidental slip-of-tongue. "No, it's not because I won't see you if I move. I just feel more comfortable at Julius's" she said, causing Boris and Peter to frown.

Suddenly, a number of things seemed to happen at the same time. Peter and Boris both jumped forward at the same time to hug Alice, and Ace swiftly moved, pulling Alice along with him. This caused Peter and Boris to crash into each other headfirst. The collision sent them flying back wards. Moments later, they both regained consciousness.

"Alice, I'm sorry, what I meant to do was this" said Boris and hugged her properly. But for some reason, it just wasn't like Boris at all. It was more like – dare she say it – Peter.

Doubting her sanity, she said to him, "Peter?" and from Boris's mouth, the reply came. "Yes, Alice?"

They've switched minds?

**Hooray! Chapter three took much more effort! **

**Hope you liked it.**

**See? That was for all you Ace x Alice fans out there. Including myself, of course. ^^**

**Anyway, I plan on doing around 6 chapters. Anyone with ideas for what happens when Boris and Peter switch brains, please help me out! I seem to have made a cliffhanger with no cliff!**

**Meh. I'm still not satisfied with the number of comments. ****. Comment, people, comment! **


	4. 4

4

**As usual, thanks for reviewing, and thanks for waiting so long for my update.**

**It took so long because I was out of town, and obsessing over Fruits Basket.**

**By the way, Ink'n'Echo gets some credit for this chapter, and my gratitude for helping me actually do this chapter and not give up and delete the story. Thanks! Read and review, as always!**

_Doubting her sanity, she said to him, "Peter?" and from Boris's mouth, the reply came. "Yes, Alice?"_

_They've switched minds?_

"Boris?" she asked, a bit scared by then.

"What? Why do you look so freaked out?" asked Peter, or at least Boris in Peter's body.

"This is so weird!" exclaimed Ace.

"What's weird?" asked Peter –err - Boris, now a bit annoyed.

"Peter- I mean Boris – have you seen yourself lately?" asked Alice. They both looked down at themselves.

_

After waking up from their massive faint attacks, Boris and Peter (in each other's bodies, that is… Sigh, this is getting confusing!) were still extremely confused and annoyed.

"Why do I have to be stuck in this stinky cat's body?" asked Peter's voice sulkily.

"It's no better being in a rabbit" said Boris's voice. At this, they started a mini-duel, which ended when Alice lost it and hit them both on the head, thereby silencing them.

Peter and Boris continued to sulk about their body switches, when Ace came up with a brilliant (in his opinion, that is…) idea.

"You two, what about cutting your brains out and putting them in the right body?"

"NO!" they shouted at the same time.

"Or we could just leave you like this. You both are very similar, anyway" he said, ignoring glares and angry mumbling from Boris and Peter.

Later that day, Peter emerged from his – Boris's - tent with a rather shocking appearance,

"Peter - I mean Boris - , what did you do?" asked Alice wearily. He had cut slits in his usually neat clothes, and he had – to everyone's utter repulsion and shock – pierced his ear! He accessorized himself with his usual spiky choker and feather boa.

"You! What did you do to me?" shouted Boris angrily. "You-you pierced my ear?" he asked, wincing and holding his ears.

"Hehehe, fake" he said, in a truly non-Peter fashion, and pulled out the earring easily.

"That's a relief" he said to himself. Alice nodded at him, and then stopped in shock, mid-nod.

"Boris – Peter – , what did _you _do to yourself?."

"Just…tidied up a bit. That filthy cat is so badly dressed, and dirty!" he said, adjusting his tie and collar.

"Well, this is a bit of a change" said Ace, watching as Boris went and sat very close to Alice, as she moved away slowly.

"Wah! I can't stand it anymore!" announced Boris, who was leaning on Alice's shoulder till then.

**(Author's Note: I know this is getting confusing, but bear with me. When I say Boris, I mean Peter in Boris's body, okay?)**

"Should I be insulted?" asked Alice, thinking it was her he was talking about.

"No, not you, of course not. I love Alice, so why would I be sick of her? Alice is – "

"Ahem" Peter cut in.

"Oh yes, where was I?"

"You can't stand something" prompted Ace.

"Oh right, I can't STAND this anymore! I want to go back!" he said dramatically.

"Actually, I'm quite bored of this too. Can we leave now?" asked Alice. "You got what you wanted" she added. Boris and Peter gasped, and Alice sighed and face-palmed.

"Fine, if that's what you want" said Ace, and started packing up.

"Wait, it's as simple as that?" asked Peter. "I thought we were lost!"

No response from Ace, except a small smirk.

A few minutes later, Peter approached Alice very solemnly.

"Alice, I have something to tell you" he said tensely.

"Yes, Boris?" she said. She was getting used to the mind switch.

"Alice, I –I-I'm in love with you" he said finally. He saw her expression of boredom, and assumed it was disbelief.

"What, you don't believe me? I'm hurt, Alice" he said.

"No, it's just that it feels like Peter is confessing to me AGAIN" she said, sighing.

"No, Alice, this is me, Boris. Look at me" he cried.

"Uh…I still see Peter" she said uncertainly. "Anyway" she continued quickly, "I'm sorry. Boris."

"What?" he asked, crestfallen.

"I'm so sorry, I don't love you. I like you though, you're like, my best friend…" she said.

"But why don't you? You like someone else, right? Is it Blood? Because if it is-"

"No, it is NOT Blood Dupre" she shouted. She seemed to cool down and she added gently "I'm sorry. And then she hugged him. It was only to console him, but Alice still felt extremely awkward and pulled away as soon as she could.

She looked up at him. He didn't seem particularly disheartened.

"No, I refuse to believe you" he said and winked, and hopped off. Alice sighed.

_Why does this always happen to me?_

Two hours later, they reached Julius's house. On the way there, they had decided that if anyone knew how to help them it would be Julius. With Boris's (that is, Peter's) arms around her shoulders, she struggled to knock on the door. Within a few seconds, the door was opened and a very surprised and furious-looking Julius ushered them in.

"What a mismatched and unexpected couple" he said, spotting Boris and Alice.

"Hi, Julius. I'm back!" said Alice, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Where were you? What did these depraved men do to you, keeping you so long?" he asked. "Didn't I tell you to be careful with _him _around?" he said with a pointed look in Ace's direction.

"I didn't do anything _much_, just a bit of –" started Ace, but Peter and Boris cut in with impatient sounds.

"Anyway, we got lost and some things happened. And then Boris and Peter White switched bodies after they banged their heads together" explained Alice.

"And we came back to find a way to switch us back. After all, you're some kind of doctor, right?" asked Peter-in-Boris's-body.

"You could say so" he said, chuckling a little.

"So, can you help us?"

"I offered to cut their brains out and exchange them, but they wouldn't listen to me" said Ace. "Or we could cut their hearts -clocks- out and switch them."

Ignoring Ace's suggestion, Julius proceeded to examine and interrogate his two 'patients'.

"Or, of course, we could bash their heads back together" he added, clearly enjoying thinking of different ways to torture them.

"Enough, Ace" said Julius.

"Boris, Sir Peter, please reconstruct the incident" he said, and they all did as he requested. Once again, Ace pulled Alice out of the way, and they collided. Painfully.

They got up unsteadily and started shouting at each other again. They stopped mid-swear and realized that they were in their own bodies.

"Mr. Watchmaker! You did it!" shouted Boris joyously, and Julius left the room, probably to work on some more clocks.

"Yay! I can hug Alice again!" said Peter, and pounced on her in a very terrifying way.

Alice could feel his grip tightening and tightening, till she could no longer breathe.

She fainted, amidst Peter's faded shouts and apologies.

Alice woke up to unfamiliar surroundings. She looked around the room, and still could not grasp where she was. Then she heard a familiar voice calling he name. It was Elliot March.

"Elliot?" she asked, feeling extremely confused.

---

**So, that's it for now! I know, I know, it was short, but I've got more coming. You can expect an update either tomorrow or the day after.**

**I've changed the summary slightly, because the story no longer revolves around Ace, and the camping trip.**

**I was reading something, and I came across a person called Alice White. How please Peter would have been!**


	5. 5

**More Elliot and Julius for those of you who love these two! And Blood, of course.**

**Read and review!**

5

"Elliot?"

"Good morning, Alice!" he said happily, carrying a slice of carrot cake and tea on a tray for her.

"Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You're in my room, in Boss's mansion"

"Oh no. Blood Dupre's mansion?" She immediately tried springing out of bed.

"No! Don't get up! You're sick! You'll only fall –" he said, as Alice teetered unsteadily.

"-down" he said, as Alice landed on him in an ungraceful heap.

A few moments later, Alice lifted herself and sat on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.

"So, how did I get here? The last thing I remember is fainting because of Peter's deadly bear hug…" she said, wincing at the memory..

"Well, I was out walking when I saw that pesky cat – "

"- Boris"

"Yes, him. I saw him frantically ringing the twins' doorbell, carrying an unconscious you. He didn't know that they weren't there. I went to him and told him that, and then I managed to convince him to let you remain here" he said proudly, as if he was a little boy expecting a compliment from his parents.

"I rescued you" he added, when no such compliment was given.

"Um. Thank you, I guess" she said.

"You're welcome!" he said cutely, and pushed the tray into Alice's hands. "Eat! You'll feel better" he advised sagely.

In between mouthfuls, Alice asked "Where are Dee and Dum?"

"We're here, onee-san!" they said in unison, pushing her down with their hugs.

"You two, get out of my room" demanded Elliot, but his commands were in vain, as the twins ignored him completely, their attention fully devoted to Alice.

"Was onee-san missing us?" asked Dee.

"Onee-san, what did the newbie hare do to you? He's always thinking dirty things about you" said Dum.

_Dirty things?_

Elliot quickly changed the topic. "I wonder where Boss is" he said loudly, and wandered off. Dee and Dum spent time proudly showing off their recently acquired scars, and their growing collection of weapons.

"Dee, Dum?" Alice called.

"Yes, onee-san?" they chorused.

"What 'dirty things' was Elliot thinking about me?" she asked curiously.

"He wants to do things like bathing with you, and stuff."

_Ah. So Elliot is not completely innocent. Just as I thought._

"Onee-san, do you love Boss? Or the newbie hare?" they asked with sad, innocent expressions.

"No, I don't. Why?"

"Because if that was true, onee-san wouldn't like us anymore!" they said, almost in tears (fake, of course).

"Of course I wouldn't! I like you two!" she said thoughtlessly.

"We love you too, onee-san!" they chanted.

_Mission accomplished, _said their expressions.

Suddenly, they were swept up. Alice looked up and saw Elliot holding them by the collar, as if they were filthy.

"What are you two up to?" he snarled.

"Onee-san was just telling us how she loves us, and not you. We told her about your dirty thoughts! She thinks you're a creep, newbie." Dee said, sticking his tongue out.

Elliot dropped them and turned to Alice.

"Whatever they told you isn't true!" he shouted.

"It's not true? You're the one who thought of bathing with her!" shouted Dum, outraged.

"You want to settle this fight like a man?" Elliot shouted back, and pulled out his gun.

"No, STOP!" said Alice loudly, and they all calmed down.

"Alice, do you want to go and take a bath, and refresh yourself?" asked Elliot.

"See! There he goes again!" shouted the twins.

Ignoring them, Alice replied "Yes, but I don't have my clothes or anything."

"I'm sure we have some dresses lying around in the mansion." He summoned a faceless servant, and soon, a very pretty, very _ornate_ dress sat at the foot of Elliot's bed.

Alice sighed, and Elliot ushered the twins out and left the room himself.

Alice had just begun undressing when the door opened.

"Ah!" she shouted, and quickly covered herself.

"Sorry, Alice! Sorry, sorry!" he said frantically. "I just came back to tell you that I have to leave soon…Boss's orders. The twins have to go too, so you can just read books or something. You know Blood's office, right?"

She nodded. "See you later then!" she said, and locked the door this time.

--

Dressed in her new uncomfortable, but beautiful clothes, she set off to the hatter's office. The place did not hold good memories for her. As far as she remembered, Blood had called her something like a seductress, and accused her of flirting, when he himself was doing it to both Alice and Vivaldi. She was livid, and hoped that she wouldn't run into him this time.

_If Elliot and the twins have gone to work, that means Blood won't be around either, right?_

Wrong.

Though she didn't notice, Blood Dupre was sitting at his table, watching her browse through his extensive book collection. Finally, Alice found a book to read and she sat in one of the many armchairs.

Twenty pages into the book, she was irritated by a shadow falling on the book. She spun around – to face the Mafioso himself.

"Well, young lady, you seem to be enjoying yourself" he chuckled. "Who gave you permission to enter my office and help yourself to my books?"

"Elliot told me I could" she said childishly.

"How did you get here anyway?" he asked.

"I – umm – Elliot found me unconscious and brought me back to his room last night" she explained reluctantly.

"I see. So you spent the night in Elliot's room. What a bad girl" he said, with a strange glint in his eyes.

Alice stood up, enraged again, and was about to leave, when Blood blocked the doorway.

"Stay" he commanded in a frighteningly quiet voice. Alarmed, Alice sat back in the armchair and looked at the floor.

"Now, don't you have to apologize?" he said.

"Apologize? If anyone has to apologize it's you! You're the one who's always being rude and insulting!"

"You've got some nerve, young lady, shouting at the mafia boss. But I suppose I'll apologize if that's the only way you will. I'm sorry, young la – "

"- Alice"

"I'm sorry, Alice" he said, as if he actually meant it at the moment. His attitude returned to normal, and he sat, staring at her with expressionless eyes. Alice looked away, to avoid his gaze. He turned her head forcefully and held it there.

"Apologize."

"No. Why do I have to apologize?" she asked, trying to push his hands away.

"Just do it" he said menacingly.

"Fine, I'm sorry, alright?"

"Yes. Good girl" he said, patting her on the head.

He sat beside her, and watched her read her book, as if nothing had happened.

"What have you been up to lately?" he asked, just like the previous visit.

"What have _you_ been up to, with Vivaldi?" she retorted.

"My, my, aren't you ferocious?" he said, caressing her cheek. "I think I should punish you for spying on me" he said, now dangerously close.

"Punish me how? Are you going to try to suffocate me again?" she asked sarcastically.

He smiled, and moved in closer…and closer…and closer, till he was mere inches away. Alice gasped, realizing his intentions, and tried to push him away, but she was about two seconds too late. He had already kissed her, quite forcefully, at that, for someone who pretended to have such good manners.

Her resistance was wearing away, so she stopped attempting to push him away and instead sat there motionless. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he released her, and said, smirking "Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" Alice refused to meet his eyes and instead proceeded to read her book.

"How was it? Did it remind you of your ex?" he asked tauntingly. "Come on. I'm sure you enjoyed that."

"No."

"Tell me you enjoyed that" he said, his voice dangerously quiet.

"I-I enjoyed that" she said reluctantly.

"Yes. Good. Now say it like you mean it. If you don't, my feelings will be hurt, and I might have to kill you. I did say I took a liking to you, after all."

"Of course I would never mean it. Who would ever like someone like _you?_ You're vile and cruel and scary, and I hate you!" she shouted, and got up to leave the room again.

"Has the watchmaker mentioned it to you? I want you to move here" he said.

"No! I will NOT move here!"

"Ah, but there's so many more men for you to seduce here. That's what you like to do, isn't it?" he asked mischievously. "Poor Julius Monrey has to endure all your charm. I don't see how he keeps himself from jumping on you…" he said.

"At least Julius is better than you. He doesn't kiss people against their will, like ONE of us here."

"Against their will? No, I don't believe that that was against your will. You loved that. You didn't protest or anything."

"Even if I did, why do you care? As you said, you don't like inconvenient matters. Besides, you yourself told me not to like you" she said angrily.

"I don't mean that. Didn't I tell you? I've taken a liking to you. I think it's not very civil of you to not remember what I say to you. After all, I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. That's the same thing, you see" quoting directly from "Alice in Wonderland", though it was unbeknownst to her.

"What, so now are you going to cut my legs off so I wouldn't leave you?" she asked cynically.

"Maybe."

"You're creepy" she declared.

"I try" he said simply, and finally went back to his work, leaving Alice to read in peace.

Later that day, Elliot returned from wherever he went, and insisted on escorting Alice back to the clock tower.

At the clock tower:

"Julius! I'm back…again" said Alice.

"Where were you? By the time I came back, you were gone, and Ace refused to tell me anything" he said.

"Worried, watchmaker?" asked Elliot snidely. "But I hear worrying is not in your nature. What makes Alice so different?"

Julius coughed, as if he was avoiding the question. "Anyway, you have a visitor" he said, and pointed to her room.

She went in wearingly, and to no one's surprise, it was Peter.

"Alice!" he said, and leaped forward to hug her.

"Stop!" she shouted, "or else, I'll have to be stuck with Blood Dupre again."

"Oh, right. I'm so sorry, Alice! I really am! I just couldn't control myself…After all, Alice is so cute, and I love Alice so much…" he said, and went on fantasizing out loud. Suddenly, he stopped, realizing they were not alone in the room.

"You. What are you doing here?" asked Peter, pulling out his gun.

"If I remember well, _I_ rescued Alice after you half killed her" he said, placing an arm lightly around Alice's shoulders.

"You're too close to my Alice!" Peter shouted angrily.

"_Your Alice?"_ said Elliot fiercely. "She told me that she hates you and loves me more!"

"No way!" he said, turning wildly to face Alice.

"Well, I might have said something like that…" said Alice, as Elliot smiled triumphantly.

"There!" said Elliot. He said goodbye to Alice and left. Peter, too disappointed to talk, also left sullenly.

_Well, that worked. So whenever Peter gets too annoying, I'll just have to reject him like this, _she thought to herself and smiled.

She went back to Julius's room to explain what happened to her.

"Make me some coffee" he said at the end of it.

"Okay!" she said cheerily, and went off, determined to get more points for her cooking skills.

"91 points" he said expressionlessly. Alice brightened visibly and was about to try some of the 91-point-coffee herself, when the doorbell rang and Ace entered the house, clad in his bloodied cloak and mask.

"Julius" he said, nodding in his direction, and removing the cloak and mask with a swift movement. "I picked up the clocks you asked me to get you" he said, placing a bag of clocks on the table. "But that's not all. Alice, the queen would like to see you. She's been very grumpy lately and will probably execute everyone in sight" he informed her cheerfully.

So Alice, not wanting so many executions to take place, set off with Ace to meet the queen.

**Yay! See, I kept my promise, and updated sooner than usual!**


	6. 6

6

As the two frequent travelers made their way to the Kingdom of Hearts, Alice was very glad that it was not nearing nighttime; she'd had enough camping trips with the psychotic knight to know that that was a _bad_ idea.

_Hey, wait, are we even going the right way? _thought Alice as she noticed that they had crossed the same bush four times.

"Ace?"

"Yes, Alice?" he asked.

"You tricked me, didn't you?" she asked, sighing. Seeing him nod, she added "Why? Haven't you got whatever you asked me for?"

"Just keep walking" he said mysteriously.

Moments later, they arrived at the grand front gates of the palace, and were welcomed in by numerous faceless servants. They walked on, to a place Alice recognized.

"The queen's court?" she said, surprised. Ignoring her, he opened the doors and pulled her by the hand inside.

"Wait. So you tricked me…about tricking me?" she asked wearily. "Why?"

"I don't know. It was fun to watch your anxious expression while you thought of all the things you thought I'd do to you…" he said with a smile. "G'bye Alice! Come camping with me again!" he said, ducking to avoid Alice's punch.

"Welcome. We have been waiting for you for a long time" said Vivaldi as she saw Alice.

"Alice!" Alice heard his voice first, and before she could react, she crashed to the ground. She got up and dusted herself off, feeling the queen's stare upon her.

"Sir Peter. You will go back to your work now. We will be with Alice today" she said in a cold voice.

"Alice! You can come to my room later!" he called enthusiastically and disappeared.

--

They sat in the queen's room, among dozens of plush animals.

"Alice, tell us, how do you like the palace?" Vivaldi asked, while a faceless maid poured them tea.

"Oh, the castle is very beautiful" Alice said, smiling and thanking the maid.

"Then why don't you move here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "We're sure Sir Peter and that knight would be very pleased. We would also be pleased, since you are so cute. After all, we adore cute things" she said, playing with a green frog toy.

"I'm sorry, but I like living at the clock tower" she said.

"We will give you your own house. And a large allowance" Vivaldi said.

"No thank you" said Alice, trying to be as polite as possible. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course" she said.

"Are you sure you won't mind?"

"No, we will not mind."

"Okay…I was wondering, what's your relationship with Blood Dupre?" she asked tentatively.

"We are enemies. You have heard, I assume, that we are in a power struggle?" she said quickly.

"But-but- I saw you in a rose garden with him" she said, surprised at her own daring.

"Ah, that…we were simply discussing land negotiations with the hatter" she said, and her tone indicated that the topic would not be brought up again.

_What kind of land negotiation meeting involves them presenting each other roses?_

_No, I am not going to thin about that vile, cruel, evil person._

--

Soon, night approached and once again, Vivaldi insisted that Alice stay at the castle till the morning.

A servant led Alice to the room she stayed in last time, and she got ready to sleep when there was a knock at her door.

"Peter, what are you doing here?" she asked disgustedly.

"I was wondering whether I could—"

"NO! Definitely not!" she shouted.

"Not even when I'm in this form?" he asked, after a small flash of light. Alice looked at his cute rabbit form, and could be seen visibly struggling.

'Umm…" she said.

_Resist the cuteness, resist the cuteness, resist the cuteness, resist the cuteness._

But the chant proved ineffective, and soon, Peter sat on her bed and watched her with big eyes.

"Alice?" he said once Alice had settled down.

"Yes?"  
"Alice, do you love me now?" he asked hopefully.

"No…not at all, why?" she asked, dreading the discussion.

"But you have to love me!" he said frantically. "If you didn't, I wouldn't have been able to bring you here."

"But Ace brought me to the castle" Alice mumbled, half asleep.

"I meant to this country" he said, sighing. But she was asleep.

--

Alice awoke about two hours later, to find herself breathing heavily. Why? Because Peter was in his human form and half on top of her. She quickly gathered her things, and made a run for it.

She was in the garden, when she bumped into a tall figure. After getting up, she realized who it was.

"Hi, Alice! Where are you off to so late at night?" said the psychotic knight with a smile.

"Escaping from Peter" she mumbled.

"Oh? I was under the impression that you invited him to spend the night in your room."

"How did _you_ know that?" asked Alice, mystified.

"Secret."

After deciding that she didn't care how Ace knew, she asked "Where are you going?"

"Same place you are. Will you help me get there?" he asked.

"How is that you get lost every time?" Alice asked, sighing.

"As I said, it helps me meet nice people like you, and that rabbit. Also, I can be with Alice for a night." He paused to smirk, probably reminiscing last time's camping trip. Then he continued. "Speaking of which, we'll have to stop for the night" he said, when they'd reached a scary-looking part of the forest.

_Oh no, another camping trip?_

Ace magically pulled out his tent from nowhere and set to work putting it up.

"You know, I always seem to end up camping with you" said Alice, half amused and half annoyed.

"Well, I guess life is one long, perpetual camping trip."

--

**Well, that was it! It's over! Thanks for reading, and review, as always.**

**But don't fret, my dears. I've got another story up my sleeve…hehehe**

**Bye-bye, everyone!**


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